52nd Lunar and Planetary Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) 2629.pdf

EXPANDING THE REACH OF SPACE AND EDUCATION DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC: THE FERNBANK SCIENCE CENTER AT-HOME PLANETARIUM EXPERIENCE. R. S. Harris, J. J. Dillon, and J. M. Lancaster, Department of Space Science, Fernbank Science Center, 156 Heaton Park Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30307; [email protected].

Introduction: Fernbank Science Center (FSC) was video production equipment and software. And we established in Atlanta, Georgia in 1967 as a unit of the made a commitment to either producing original con- DeKalb County School District (DCSD). In addition to tent or pairing special expert guests and panels to com- providing expert outreach and onsite field trip oppor- plement the watermarked shows and other public do- tunities across a variety of STEM disciplines for stu- main films. We also began to offer regular special cov- dents both inside and beyond DCSD, FSC features the erage and local commentary of major solar system Apollo 6 Command Module, a large meteorite and events, NASA missions, and breaking planetary sci- impact materials collection, a publicly accessible 36” ence news. We partnered with NASA-funded scientists Cassegrain reflecting telescope, and a 71-foot 4K digi- around the world and NASA Centers to continually tal planetarium dome with seating capacity for an au- provide fresh content.

dience of at least 500. Between scheduled school clas- The Results: As of January 2021, the FSC At- ses and Thursday though Saturday public planetarium Home Planetarium Show has expanded to two live programming, FSC welcomes approximately 250,000 Friday evening broadcasts at 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. EST. visitors a year. We provide a consistent quality re- On Saturday afternoons at 1:00 p.m. EST, we provide source for science education and engagement for the the PLANET-arium Show, a one-hour live tour entire Greater Atlanta region. Consequently, the global through the solar system using the OpenSpace visuali- pandemic response that began in March 2020, present- zation platform. And at 2:00 p.m., we explore the con- ed a unique and important challenge, particularly for stellations in the Virtual Sky. Recent highlights of our the Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium and our space programming have been special presentations on the and planetary science programming that anchors the Christmas Star by Brother Guy Consolmagno S.J., The Center’s mission. Planet Pluto with Kirby Runyon and Phil Metzger, and The Response: In April 2020, we established a live a live broadcast of the Great Conjunction of Jupiter Friday night At-Home Planetarium Show that was and Saturn from the top of Stone Mountain, which broadcast from makeshift home studios via Facebook reached close to 10,000 viewers. We also established a Live accessed through the normal FSC Facebook site companion Facebook site, @FernbankEarthSpace @fernbankcenter. We provided star talks using Stellar- where we air weekly 30 to 60-minute episodes featur- ium, and Evans & Sutherland/Spitz Inc. provided a ing terrestrial geology, planetary geology, and virtual library of watermarked flatscreen planetarium videos. field trips to geologic sites around the world. More Each show was archived in Facebook and linked to our than 30 episodes are archived including a complete primary website, www.fernbank.edu. The viewership ten-part voyage through the solar system called Space for each “episode” would grow through the week. The Rocks! major substantive difference between the real and vir- Over nine months, we have produced more than 60 tual planetarium, apart from the unique domed room, shows and estimate that we have had more than was that we suddenly were offering new content every 150,000 viewers spanning at least six continents. In week. Typically, we change features every three to one sense we nearly are keeping pace with our pre- four months. The community seemed to enjoy this new pandemic presence, but in other ways we are far ex- model. ceeding our normal reach. The next challenge is to About a month into the programming, we had an maintain the best of both the real and virtual worlds opportunity to show Mars 1001 produced by Robin when the pandemic subsides. Sipp and narrated by PBS Science Correspondent Miles O’Brien. Before we knew it, we had both Robin and Miles participating as live guests. Robin joined us from inside a manned Mars rover on the production set of the movie in the Netherlands. The viewership sky- rocketed to over 1600 people live. And we never looked back. We furnished an at-home studio with a Figure 1. Brother Guy Consolmagno S.J. (Director of high-speed computer, dedicated Zoom account, and the ) joined us for a spectacular and inspirational discussion of the Great Conjunction, the Christmas star, and meteorites.